Cassiel POV
So our options were limited. After running for a bit we found out this monster is after Filo who still has that mana crystal from the other dragon. We also found out it's tanky as fuck, her kick did nothing to it and with all the potential collateral damage we had to get it out of the city. After getting it out of the city to a lake I handed my mask to Melty who was shocked by my face and tried my luck with the dragon, I couldn't break off the scales, I couldn't hit it's eyes with that giant crown-like thing on it's head in the way, and other spells like Gravira did nothing to it. I think I can see why the Four Heroes from back then couldn't kill it, I even tried channeling the darkness and still I couldn't do anything more than chip away at it's fleshy underside. I might have been able to kill it, but endurance isn't something I would have enough of for this, and if I did that's assuming I don't get hit and the others can last as well.
Just as Naofumi was about to bring out the Rage Shield the strangest thing happened, chocobos started running out of the forest and circled the dragon, then a giant chocobo rose from the lake behind us and spoke to us and the dragon. She killed that thing with so little effort that it makes me wonder WHERE THE FLYING FUCK HAS SHE BEEN SINCE THE WAVES STARTED??? GLASS HAS NOTHING ON THIS GIANT ASS BIRD!!! Okay, now that that's out of my system let's go back to it. After putting my mask back on she turned into her human form and introduced herself as Fitoria and protested against Naofumi using the Rage Shield and dragon parts before she relented and teleported us with her carriage.
The location we were teleported to was some ruins she said was supposedly defended by Heroes before she was born, she's been watching over them and has essentially turned this place into a "filolial sanctuary" as Melty called it. Fitoria offered to let us rest here for a little while and we got down to making use of that dragon corpse, dragon meat is actually pretty good, so good that Naofumi had to feed the other chocobos as well. After everyone had their fill and went to sleep Fitoria wanted to talk with Naofumi about how the dragon was released among other things. She let out a frustrated sigh after hearing everything.
"What's wrong with you?" Naofumi asked.
"I am appalled. You Cardinal Heroes should all be ashamed, squabbling with each other when the next Wave is approaching." She answered.
"Give me a break, they started it."
"The Shield Hero has always been shunned by the human supremacist countries."
"Okay then you should understand! That's the whole reason we're trying to cross the bor-"
"Leaving won't solve anything, work it out! The humans and Demi Humans may hate each other, but the Heroes mustn't fight amongst themselves."
"That's a lot easier said than done. As long as they believe the bitch that put us in this position we won't be able to do so. They still believe he's a rapist because of her and now they, because of her, believe he can brainwash people and has done so to Melty who he 'kidnapped'. You make it sound like Naofumi is at fault as well when it's their unwillingness to cooperate among other things that he has little to no control over." I said in his defense. Nothing was said for a little while, Fitoria sat down on the roof of a building and started stacking rocks.
"Don't you know about the Hourglass? All Four of you certainly should." She said.
"If you're talking about the Dragon Hourglass then yeah, we do." Naofumi answered.
"Then why aren't you fighting the Waves of Catastrophe across the world?" I snapped my head to her in surprise.
"Wait a second, you mean to tell me the Waves of Catastrophe don't just happen inside of Melromarc?" Naofumi asked shocked.
"No, they happen everywhere. The Four Heroes are meant to go to one country each everytime there's a Wave." She answered.
"But nobody ever told me about that."
"I've been traveling the world in your stead whenever I'm asked, but you Four aren't helping anywhere else."
"Hell, I just found out other countries had their own Hourglasses." A thought comes to mind.
"I think I know why they aren't helping other countries. All Four were summoned in Melromarc, it's possible the country that summons a specific Hero will recall that Hero, or all Heroes in this case at the time of the Waves. It's also possible that the Hourglasses teleport the Heroes in that country to the location hit by it. If it's the former then either Aultcray or the bitch is planning world domination after the Waves." I theorized.
"I cannot tell you for certain nor does it concern me. I'm only fighting because the Hero who raised me asked me to do so." She replied.
"Asked, or told?" Naofumi asked.
"My job is to protect the world and keep it's people safe."
"The world can live on without the people, but the same can't be said the other way around." I said.
"You understand then, to an extent at least. I can't do that all bh myself, I need the Heroes to help me."
"Honestly you seem a lot more capable than any of us." Naofumi said.
"That may be true for now, but eventually I won't be enough."
"So that's why you need the Heroes to help you."
"Exactly. That's also why you need to make amends with the other Heroes."
"Sorry, but as Cassiel said, that's easier said than done."
"The Cardinal Heroes are supposed to work together. That is absolutely crucial to this world's protection!"
"Not happening, the whole country besides those three and Cassiel want to get rid of me."
"Don't worry, I'm aware of what's happening. Regardless, the Heroes must stop fighting each other."
"You're kind of obsessing about that."
"Because it is completely unacceptable."
"Well it's a lost cause 'cuz they don't want to play nice with me either."
"Are you certain?" I'm not liking where this is going.
"... Yeah."
"I see, you've made up your mind then. It's been a while, several life times in fact, I can hardly remember anything, but I do still remember what this means I'll have to do. If the Heroes are busy fighting each other instead of fighting the Waves of Catastrophe, then you leave me no choice. I must kill all Four of you!"
Wait what?
The next day Fitoria did something that made me want to kill her. She used Melty as a hostage and demanded Naofumi reconcile with the Others, when he refused she told him if he can prove he can beat the Waves without the Others that she won't kill anyone. She decided a duel between her and Filo would take place as the proof of this. To say the fight was one sided is an understatement, faster, stronger, experienced, Fitoria had every possible advantage and she knew that. How the duel ended was surprising to say the least, Filo after a heavy beating finally managed to scratch Fitoria, then she kept going on about how she would protect everyone, even I was one of them which surprised me more than when she hit Fitoria.
'Heh, a little girl wants to protect me of all people, I'm not sure how to feel about that.' I thought.
Fitoria decided Filo passed her little "test" and appointed her the next queen, apparently their kind's crown is a cowlick as revealed by a tiara fading away and changing her hair. She also had a gift for Naofumi and gave his Shield one of her cowlicks before asking to discuss something privately between the three of us. Before that though she offered anything to Melty, we really should have seen her asking for a ride in her other form coming. She looked so happy that it was like every worry she had was now gone. That night though we were able to have our little chat, she talked about the Waves and the sacrifices to be made later on before casting a spell on Naofumi that slowed the corrosion of the Rage Shield, afterward she wanted to speak to me privately and asked him to await her return. After we descended the stairs she spoke first.
"Your name is Cassiel correct?" She asked.
"It is." I answered.
"May I see your weapon?" That's an odd question.
"Alright?" Not like I had much of a choice in the matter. After inspecting it for a while she handed it back to me.
"A fine replica, it must have been made by a blacksmith truly worthy of being called such. Now show me the real one."
"You're familiar with keyblades?" I asked surprised as I showed her Nightfall and she took it to inspect it before it disappeared on it's own and reappeared back in my hands.
"There has only ever been one other keyblade wielder that I've known of, a Demi Human that was around the time the Hero who raised me was still alive. He mostly observed, but that doesn't mean he didn't help, he traveled with all the Heroes a few times and helped when the Waves were too difficult. Unfortunately he saw something that made him fall to his darkness and it took all the Heroes to put down the monster that rose from where he stood."
"Where are you going with this?"
"You are much closer to falling than he was before he saw what he did. You may think it is power at your command, and perhaps it is, but that may not be the case forever. You possess the means of acquiring equal if not greater power than the Cardinal Weapons at their full potential. I would ask you not rely on that power you used to fight the dragon if at all possible if you wish to reach that potential." She requested.
"That's not something I can do. I'm going to trust my master, I'm going to trust in Raven more than you, especially after that stunt you pulled earlier." I turned Nightfall into a scythe and channeled Dark Fira through it. "I was ready to try to kill you consequences be damned!" I desummoned Nightfall. "My darkness is mine and mine alone to use as I see fit. It was the Hell I've been through that gave me this darkness, why would I use it? I'll make you a deal though, if you can give me power equal to it right now then I'll stop, otherwise back off and stay out of affairs you know nothing about!" She turned away.
"Very well, I'll trust you not to fall to it. Though don't say I didn't warn you." She said before going back to Naofumi. I went back to the others and was just curious enough to see how comfortable this was, sleeping on chocobos.
I fell asleep almost immediately.